they want to hunt or have personal protection. and many say they are buying guns to give as gifts. barbara starr, cnn, washington. thanks for being with me this afternoon. i'm fredricka whitfield. much more in the "newsroom" straight ahead with natalie allen. happy new year to you also, natalie. >> happy new year to you, too, fred. thank you. hello, happy new year. it is 1:00. we have a busy hour ahead. new jersey governors don't spend a lot of time in west des moines, iowa or cedar rapids, or debuick, iowa for that matter. but four days before the nation's first presidential nominating contest in iowa, chris christie is trying to help mitt romney close the deal. christie toyed with a run himself and disappointed a lot of his fellow republicans when he decided to sit out. romney came late to the iowa race pinning his hopes on new hampshire where he is stumping later today. he's still on top of the latest polls.

much more from and about the hawkeye caucuses later this hour. sears holdings is out with a partial list of the sears and k-mart stores it plans to close. earlier this week sears said it would close between 100 and 120 stores as a result of poor holiday sales. the firm has released a list of 79 that will be closed nationwide. sears said in a statement that it could not say how many jobs will be cut or when the stores will be closed. sears holdings has more than 4,000 stores in the u.s. and canada. a protest in syria turns deadly. hundreds of thoses of pro-democracy demonstrators jammed the streets and homes and other cities across the country as part of what the opposition called the crawl to freedom square. anti-government groups say at least 32 protesters have been killed. witnesses say this video shows a

man who had his legs blown off being carried by friends in a ma das tus suburb. crackdown by president bashar al assad's forces continues despite the presence of arab league monitors. monitors are in syria to verify assad's pledge to pull troops from the streets and end the violence. angry words won't be the only things flying over the persian gulf tomorrow. iran says it will test fire long range missiles as part of a ten-day naval exercise that also coincides with threats to shut the vital strait of hormuz. much of the world's oil passes through that narrow channel every day and washington vows to keep it open. earlier today my colleague hala gorani spoke with the head of the national iranian-american council who doesn't like what he sees. >> as we are kind of sleep walking towards the military confrontation, i don't believe the obama administration has the intent for war, nor do i think

necessarily that the iranians are looking for war. but the policies that we are pursuing nevertheless are increasing the risk of a military confrontation. tehran is up in arms over new western sanctions it may face over its nuclear program. amid a growing turf war over immigration law, the feds are reaching out directly to detainees facing deportation in local jails. immigration and customs enforcement is setting up a hotline for detainee questions or complaints and it's reminding all concerned that police can hold undocumented suspects for 48 hours at most. after that, the feds are supposed to take over or the detainees released. >> three, two, one -- happy new year! >> don't worry, no one's jumping the gun. this was just a test of the ball drop in "new york times" square last year. of course the real thing will happen saturday night.

hundreds of thousands of people expected to be on hand to say good-bye to 2011. perhaps with a little good riddance thrown in and a big welcome to the new year and new york's finest will be out in force, along with 35 mounted horses, explosive sniffing dogs and both uniformed and plain clothes officers. for those of you who have no plans and are looking for something to do, there is an app for that, too. be sure to ring in the new year with anderson cooper and kathy griffin. the duo will be live from times square starting at 11:00 p.m. eastern tomorrow night right here on cnn. call it a gift from nature as 2011 winds down. an erupting underwater volcano has created this tiny island in the red sea off the coast of yemen. nasa says the island began forming earlier this month. the swas agency's earth observing one satellite captured this image showing the new

island a plume of white smoke rising from the ocean. scientists say new islands emerge from volcanic eruptions every few years and not all survive beyond three years because they're usually broken up by waves. detectives and veterinarians are investigating a north carolina turkey farm that appears to have been the site of horrendous cruelty. a group called mercy for animals says one of its members infiltrated a property own by butterball and shot video that i'm about to show you but not without a warning. it is very difficult to watch. workers are seen dragging, throwing, kicking, even beating turkeys which animal rights group says experience pain just like dogs and cats. local sheriff says he's first trying to confirm the farm he's searching is the one in this video. so far, no one has been arrested and no evidence seized. butterball says it is

cooperating fully and doing its own investigation. an arizona judge says schools that teach mexican-american studies are breaking the law. why? well, he says because it's biased. and the state superintendent agrees. ly ask him why -- next. for rhinos, this year cannot end soon enough. conservationists say more rhinos were killed this year in south africa, home of the world's biggest rhino population, than ever before. at least 443 of the giant animals were poached. that's up from 333 last year and barely more than a dozen a decade ago. they are hunted for their horns which are mistakenly prized in asia for medicinal qualities. the horns can fetch $65,000 a kilo more than gold, platinum, even cocaine. but enough already. on the brink of a new year, we say to rhinoceros poachers,

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aspercreme breaks the grip, with maximum-strength medicine and no embarrassing odor. break the grip of pain with aspercreme. nomplts one can samex can american studies haven't been laerning experience in tucson. for a year-and-a-half now, the state of arizona has been trying to shut the program down claiming it advocates ethnic solidarity and promotes racial resentment. teachers and supporters say they're merely presenting history, government, literature and art from a latino perspective. they call it an actacademic awakening. >> we don't teach race itch.

we teach about race itch. we teach about injustice. >> this week a judge upheld an order by the state superintendent of public instruction. as a state senator in 2010, the congressman voted for the law that's now being revised. thank you for being with us. first, what's so wrong with what's being taught in tucson. >> the fundamental problem is that you have historical events being presented in a racial context in a one-sided way that inflames racial tensions and creates ethnic solidarity in an unhealthy way. >> even if they are keecteachin a biased, political or even emotionally charged manner. so what about that? this is america. do you support government censorship of teachers? >> well, this isn't about censorship or those kind of things.

this is about the quality of education and what's appropriate in the classroom and what teaching what we're proud of in the classroom. you have this problem in mexican-american studies but it is a symptom of a larger problem of a school district, second largest one in the state of arizona, that provides a poor quality education to hispanic-americans, low-income hispanic-americans across the board. not just in this case but all their academics, their academic gains are decisively below average. when these kids in order to catch up and have the opportunities we have, they need decisively above average so this is a sim some after broader problem. poor quality education in the state's second largest school district. >> but with the independent audit that you commissioned also found that students who took the ethnic studies curriculum had a better chance of graduating. was that not true and would that not and priority? >> well, we took a lot of months

to independently investigate. the audit was a part of that. one thing the audit revealed, they sent auditors into the classroom to take a look at what was going on and all of these behaviors that we are so troubled about disappeared when they were being observed. when we compared the lesson plans with what the auditors observed, you could see what was illegal because the teachers themselves stopped doing it. but those lesson plans reveal what's been going on for many years in the school district and those are the activities and behaviors that we're very concerned about. we're concerned about toxic behavior, presenting historical events in racial terms and inflaming racial tensions. that's not appropriate in the classroom ever. not from any perspective. >> a group of tucson teachers and students have sued in federal court claiming the law you are using against them is unconstitutional. do you think you'll prevail? >> well, we are as much concerned about engage being the

school district on many levels, improving the quality of basic instruction, improving the quality of how they present history. we absolutely believe that you hit a good history talks about historic cal injustice. what a good history doesn't do though is do that in a one-sided fashion to inflame racial tensions. we don't want classes -- you wouldn't tolerate it in any other context. it's very inappropriate. it's toxic for these students. it is communicates a culture of victimhood. we want these students to have a high-quality basic education and a real working knowledge of history, along with that historical injustice, because we all need to work for a better future in america. >> we appreciate you joining us on this topic that has a lot of people talking there in arizona. thanks very much. >> thank you. still ahead here, a few towns across the country are going green by breezing up.

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with gas prices high and getting higher, more people are turning to biodiesel. the u.s. department of energy says there are more than 600 biodiesel fueling stations across the country. most are 20% biodiesel, 80% regular diesel. biodiesel can be made from the used cooking grease restaurants store in drums near the trash. normally they have to pay to have it hauled away and disposed of, but the city of smyrna, georgia outside of atlanta is now telling local restaurants they'll pick it up for free. now some cities already run city

vehicles on biodiesel, but smyrna city administrator eric taylor says they want to be the first georgia city to make its own fuel. eric joins me now. eric, thanks for being with us. first off, how did your city decide to dive in and go with biodiesel? >> well, natalie, historically our city council's been very supportive of environmental sustainable efforts and 2 1/2 to 3 years ago when gas prices were pushing $5 a gallon, our city council and mayor directed us to start looking into alternative fuel sources and we identified hoover, alabama was using and producing their own biodiesel and we went over there and studied it and we discovered that it was a very feasible option for us. >> how are you going to get all the used cooking oil? i would imagine what you learned in alabama was that fried food can be a good thing because it does produce a lot of oil. >> right. we're going to make it easy on our citizens and other folks who

want to donate the oil. we're going to have 55-gallon drums we're going to make available to restaurants which our staff will pick up for free. we will also give people the opportunity to take their used oil to our recycling center. we'll have drop-off points all across the city similar to propane exchanges. and if folks put their used oil out with the recycling, our staff will pick it up and take it back and process it. >> so how much money do you expect to save from this initiative? >> well, long term we're hoping to save 25% of our fuel cost. at our current rates that's probably $25,000 per year. >> wow. do you have other cities in interested in how this will work for you? are people looking to see what you're going to do? >> yes, we have been cacced by several cities across the southeast. once we're up live and going next month we expect some of

those other cities will come and look see what we are doing. >> we are told people may be -- people won't be smelling diesel but they will be smelling something. the trucks do have a submit of smell to them. right? >> that's what we've been told. personally speaking, i think the smefl french fries is a little bit better than the smell of diesel oil. >> and perhaps a little bit better for the environment. >> right. >> well, we wish you well. i'm sure people are looking forward to the fact that they can do something positive with all of that oil once they're done with it. thanks so shall for joining us, eric taylor. we wish you well in smyrna, georgia. still ahead here, he was shot multiple times an survived. >> the guy who got shot was running towards his kids? >> yeah. but he's got a bullet. he's got two bullets in him. >> how this marine's quick actions saved his life. then ben breedlove became an internet sensation inspiring thousands with messages of hope

like this one. now it is his family and friend hoping to make a difference. >> he prayed for us. and he prayed that we wouldn't be scared and we wouldn't be sad and that we would have the same peace that he felt from god. >> a look at beb bren breedlove the people he inspired. nyquil:what? tissue box (whispering): he said nasal congestion... nyquil: i heard him. anncr vo: tylenol cold multi-symptom nighttime relieves nasal congestion... nyquil cold & flu doesn't.

an update on the horrific bludgeoning death of a 9-year-old indiana girl allegedly at the hands of her baby-sitter. story tops today's crime and consequence. we warn you the details are

graphic. formal murder charges today in the death of the little girl. according to court documents, the defendant admitted repeatedly striking the girl in the head with a brick on front steps of his mobile home last friday, then storing her dismembered body in a freezer. the girl's grandmother says she an her two sisters were staying with the man while her mother recovered from the flu. in deerfield beach, florida, the 911 tapes have been released in the shooting of this veteran. two men robbed him of his fiance's necklace. a witness came to his aid and called 911. >> the guy who got shot was running towards his kids? >> yeah. but he's got a bullet. he's got two bullets in him. >> he told reporters today he is shocked by the violence in his own hometown. >> it's a little upsetting that it's so dangerous. you hear about crime and things in the news that you guys

advertise. but it just doesn't seem as realistic until it happens to you, i guess. >> two suspects have been arrested on charges of attempted murder. a tampa woman barely escapes with her life after thieves drag her through the street. watch here as she walks across the parking lot, a car passes behind her. while the car is moving, the passenger nabs her purse but the woman can't let go. police say she was dragged about 40 feet. she has cuts to her face, arms and legs. the driver of that truck you see back there got the tag number but the car was stolen and the police are still searching for the suspects. mitt romney's got the lead in iowa, but is he getting a little too confident? apparently he's taking the weekend off and he's not the only one. smart strategy? maybe. that's "fair game" and it's next. but, first, today's question for all you political junkies out there -- which gop candidate

won the iowa caucuses in 2008? mitt romney, john mccain, or someone else? you may be surprised. find out right after the break. this was the gulf's best tourism season in years. all because so many people wanted to visit us... in louisiana. they came to see us in florida... nice try, they came to hang out with us in alabama... once folks heard mississippi had the welcome sign out, they couldn't wait to get here. this year was great but next year's gonna be even better. and anyone who knows the gulf knows that winter is primetime fun time. the sun's out and the water's beautiful. you can go deep sea fishing for amberjack, grouper and mackerel. our golf courses are open. our bed and breakfast have special rates. and migrating waterfowl from all over make this a bird watcher's paradise. so if you missed it earlier this year, come on down. if you've already been here come on back... to mississippi... florida... louisiana... alabama.

the gulf's america's get-a-way spot no matter where you go. so come on down and help make 2012 an even better year for tourism on the gulf. brought to you by bp and all of us who call the gulf home.

before the break i asked -- which gop candidate won the iowa

caucuses in 2008. mike huckabee was the big winner with 34% of the vote. mitt romney came in second with 25%. john mccain the eventual gop presidential nominee came in fourth behind fred thompson with 13% of the vote. ron paul was fifth with 10%. all right, 2011 and tick-tock, it is crunch time in iowa with just four days until the caucuses. mitt romney and ron paul are basically tied for the top spot in an nbc news/maris poll of likely voters, followed by santorum and gingrich. but nearly half of voters say they might change their mind or haven't settled on their final choice yet. what's it going to take? let's bring in democratic political consultant ed espinoza and cnn contributor will cain for today's "fair game." will, let's start with you. you just saw in our political junkie question that in '08, mccain, the eventual gop nominee came in fourth in iowa with just 13% of the vote. are some candidates too focused

on iowa? >> absolutely. not only the candidates but the media are hyperventilating about a state that in the end isn't all that important. look at this. this -- here's a series of numbers here. 28. that's the number of delegates at stake in iowa. now this year for the first time, if you win iowa, that doesn't mean you get 28 delegates. we have proportional representation. let's say you win 50% of the vote. then you'd get 14 delegates. nobody right now is polling at 50% of the vote of. you just saw the numbers -- something like 23% versus 21 which means you get something like seven delegates versus sixth. first place and second place would get delegates. they're fighting over a couple of delegates. it takes 1,144 delegates to get the nomination. so what are we fighting for? we're fighting for momentum and media coverage. we're fighting about who you're going to ask me about for the next week. >> ed, what do you say to that?

is all the hoopla and $8 million spent in ads this month alone there worth it? >> look, iowa's an important state. it is not just about delegates, although delegates are important. we gauge momentum. just like will said, the problem is if you can't demonstrate an ability to win, an ability to compete, that affects the way a candidate competes in states after that. perfect example -- look at howard dean's race in 2004. he came in third or fourth in iowa. he could have done very well in california, wisconsin. hey, his home state of vermont. problem is he couldn't make it that far because he had lost the faith and confidence not only of the voters but of the donors. and that's -- >> let me say this -- ed is talking about the way it is. i'm lamenting it because of the way it should be. 100,000 people will vote in the iowa caucus. 35,000 will pick the winner and they should not be dictating what momentum is over the next week and a half and what the

mass media talks about. >> i hope the folks of iowa aren't watching. >> i agree. not only -- >> there's not that many natalie, don't worry. >> it shouldn't -- i like early states going early, small states going early but i don't think iowa and new hampshire should have a monopoly on the process. should mix it up a little bit. but it is what it is. and we play the ball as it lays. >> ed, do you think it is a big deal that romney and paul are taking the weekend off from iowa? romney's going to new hampshire. ron paul's spending new year's with his wife. that's laudable, of course. >> all i can say is i hope whoever the eventual nominee is decides that they're also going to take halloween 2012 off because this is crazy! their managers have to be pulling their hair out right now. the only time you send a candidate home is when it is a lost cause or when they are a getting in the way. neither one of those instances are the case here. they should not be going home. they should be on the campaign trail. >> but the new jersey governor has shown up, chris christie.

will, what can that do for romney? >> it can help. romney, he was in the state today, he was in new hampshire. he's in both states today. but having chris christie at your side is definitely a big plus. chris christie's a popular figure. he gives wonderful speeches. he's charismatic, magnetic, whatever. it is good because those are a lot of qualities romney lacks, actually. >> what do you both still make of the fact that people in iowa say, we just might change our mind before next week? >> i think they've been doing it all year. don't know why they would stop now. >> yeah, doesn't surprise me. conservatives have had a really hard time moving towards a candidate we can all agree upon. it doesn't surprise me there is a big undecided sign hanging over the voting booth right now. >> will the polls even out then after iowa say when we get to new hampshire, what do you think? ed? >> well, in this race, normally you see polls tighten up towards the end. we haven't seen that here. but if candidates drop out after

iowa, then there becomes fewer options. there's fewer places for voters to go. it might tighten up. but like will said, conservatives are having a problem finding a candidate that they really love. maybe that will happen after iowa. it all depends on how many candidates are still in the race. >> all right. we thank you both, ed espinoza, will cain, for "fair game." we know you will not be taking off this weekend because we'll be calling you back. remember, next tuesday night the country's first real votes and the candidate's first true test taking place in the iowa caucuses. no matter what you think of iowa, we like the folks in iowa, watch it all unfold live with the best political team on television, america's choice 2012. coverage of the iowa caucuses begins tuesday night, january 3rd, 7:00 p.m. eastern right here on cnn. well, japan before and after the tsunami. we have amazing images you have got to see just ahead. but first, a boy and his dog and a cliff. 19-year-old ivan was hiking with

his dog lola near los angeles. look at that picture. he and his dog slipped and slid 100 feet down. he couldn't get back up. a helicopter rescue would kick up too much dust so fire ferrets came to the rescue. they strapped ropes to themselves, climbed down the cliff, grabbed on and got both he and his dog to safety and for that, those l.a. firefighters are today's rock stars. nyquil (stuffy): hey, tylenol. you know we're kinda like twins. tylenol: we are? nyquil (stuffy): yeah, we both relieve coughs, sneezing, aches, fevers. tylenol: and i relieve nasal congestion. nyquil (stuffy): overachiever. anncr vo: tylenol cold multi-symptom nighttime relieves nasal congestion... nyquil cold & flu doesn't. this was the gulf's best tourism season in years. all because so many people wanted to visit us... in louisiana. they came to see us in florida...

nice try, they came to hang out with us in alabama... once folks heard mississippi had the welcome sign out, they couldn't wait to get here. this year was great but next year's gonna be even better. and anyone who knows the gulf knows that winter is primetime fun time. the sun's out and the water's beautiful. you can go deep sea fishing for amberjack, grouper and mackerel. our golf courses are open. our bed and breakfast have special rates. and migrating waterfowl from all over make this a bird watcher's paradise. so if you missed it earlier this year, come on down. if you've already been here come on back... to mississippi... florida... louisiana... alabama. the gulf's america's get-a-way spot no matter where you go. so come on down and help make 2012 an even better year for tourism on the gulf. brought to you by bp and all of us who call the gulf home. [oinking] [hissing] [ding] announcer: cook foods to the right temperature using a food thermometer.

3,000 americans will die from food poisoning this year. check your steps at foodsafety.gov.

images unlike anything you've ever seen before show the destruction that japan suffered from an earthquake and tsunami earlier this year. it is an interactive look and our josh levs has it for you. i guess it is just hard to describe the before and after, josh. >> it is. this is historic. this kind of documentation of the unbelievable devastation that we witnessed in japan earlier this year. right now this is from google called memories for the future. one example i've pulled up one of the areas we talked about, the devastation was just absolutely incredible. what google has now are images of what it's looked like recently. this is as recent as october and this is after much of the debris was pick up. we're looking at this area in

miyagi prefecture where numerous boats washed up on to land. thanks to this feature you can see what it looks like now. i want to jump you over to a map. we're going to see before and after pictures. we're starting off with onagawa. this is where this becomes its most powerful. this is what it looked like before the earthquake and the tsunami. this is one busy street corner. you can see shops, you can see out of the book store in one corner here. the same area after the earthquake. exact same spot. boom. this is what it looks like now. what you see are a series of before and after pictures. absolutely incredible. i want to zoom you a little bit west. still inside miyagi prefecture. i'm highlighting some places we at cnn told but earlier this year. this picture is a residential area. these were homes.

multi-family homes, some apartment buildings. in some cases cars outside. this is a before picture. now, boom. same spot. same area. hard breaking. this picture is from july. in some cases there's been some more clean-up since then. there is a third one. zooming southward a little bit. probably the place you heard us talk about most is in fukushima prefecture. we have an example for you here which is soma, inside fukushima. this is before picture was taken on a kind of cloudy day but you can see there are homes ear and you can see it was a residential and little bit of a business area there in soma. look, everything's gone. what's amazing about this feature is you can see all sorts of areas of japan with before and after imagery. check it out for yourself. i've posted it at cnn.com/josh. it is also up at facebook an twitter. i'm at joshlevscnn.

to this day our thoughts and prayers with all of those affected. the latest number, more than 15,000 people killed in the earthquake and tsunami. >> i think of all the pictures from this year, the tsunami wave coming ashore was the jaw dropping picture of the year. >> it was astounding. unfortunately, a lot of people have reached out, a lot of people have helped. japan has had some good news during the year as well. it's gotten a lot of applauding. the nuclear crisis. a lot of people have suffered a great deal. our up and down economy dominated the news in 2011. millions of americans still out of work. a federal deadlock over spending and the occupy wall street movement coming up, a look at the history making moments that hit you in the wallet in 2011. but first, another money matter that could affect your bottom line. verizon, the nation's largest wireless company, will charge a $2 convenience fee for customers

making one-time bill payments online or by phone using a debit or credit card. you can avoid paying the extra $2 by using an electronic check. customers may also enroll in a service that will debit their bank accounts or charge their credit cards on a recurring basis without an additional charge. medicare. it doesn't cover everything.

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what is it about taking a first step that we find so compelling? is it because taking a step represents hope? or triumph? at genworth, we believe in taking small steps every day to keep your promises, protect what matters, and prepare for a secure financial future. no matter where you want to go, one step at a time is the only way to get there.

go to genworth.com/promises. with this being the last training day of the year, many investors, big and small, are probably breathing a huge sigh of relief. 2011 seemed to offer up one crisis after another. take your pick -- the u.s. debt crisis, wild swings on wall street, soaring unemployment, the euro crisis, natural disasters. some market watchers really aren't sure what to expect in the new year. >> you're going to continue to have this unsettled volatility, although i think if the macro data starts to come in stabilizing, then we'll see the markets stabilize. >> reporter: alison kosik now with one last look at the wild

ro ride that was 2011. >> reporter: a recovery that is slow. congress deadlocked. >> the house cannot pass a bill that raises taxes on job creators. >> all 53 of us have informed the speaker that his legislation was doomed in the senate. >> reporter: europe a mess. and wall street occupied. the u.s. economy actually grew in 2011, but barely. >> even as economic growth continues we continue to face very substantial economic challenges. >> reporter: challenges like the housing market, home prices dropped about 4%. and jobs. over 13 million americans are still out of work. politicians and business leaders search for solutions. >> pass this bill. >> pass this jobs bill. >> pass this jobs bill. >> i think a balanced approach ultimately is what most business people, most ceos would like to see. >> we, too, have to do

something. >> reporter: it's been a frustrating year for the u.s. economy but it could have been worse. it could have been europe. debt crises threaten the economies of greece, italy, spain, and others, leading leaders scrambling to hold the eurozone together and save the common currency and u.s. investors holding their breath. 2011 started with big gains for stocks. the dow soared past 12,000 holding its own while governments toppled in tunisia, egypt and libya. but then japan. the devastating earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster threatened our fragile recovery. over the summer, congress' debt ceiling stalemate pulled the rug out from under the market. >> we have a spending problem. >> there are a lot of crises in the world that we can't always predict or avoid. this isn't one of those crises. >> reporter: the dow dropped 512 points on august 4th, another 633 points on august 8th. it left investors dizzy.

americans angry, some took to the streets, a fight for financial fairness began in september here in new york and spread across the country. many sought retail therapy. the biggest black friday and cyber monday on record. >> alison, we have just a few hours before the markets close out this year. does it look like we'll hold on to those gains for the year? >> for a couple of the averages. for the dow it is looking pretty good. the dow looks like it is going to gain 6% this year compared to last year. as for the s&p 500, that's literally clinging to a gain of just a few points at this point. the nasdaq looks like it is going to go for a loss for the year. but it is the s&p 500 that's most likely -- the best indicator of how maybe your retirement funds or our mutual fund investments performed this year because many of those investments actually track the s&p 500. >> the million dollar

question -- what is the outlook for 2012? >> okay. so what economists are saying is that they're forecasting that growth will actually pick up to 3.2%. it is much closer to what's considered healthy and it's been a while since we've seen anything healthy as far as economic growth goes in this country. the crisis in europe, that's going to continue to be a major concern. but we have seen some positive signs lately. on jobs. on housing. and if some of those trends continue into 2012, next year may turn out to be a little brighter financially than 2011. natalie? >> that is certainly what everyone is hoping for, for sure. just a couple more days to go, alison kosik for us at the new york stock exchange. see you next year. four days out, there is still no clear front-runner in the race for iowa. we are on ground in the hawkeye state next. also, kelly clarkson is singing praise for one gop candidate but her endorsement isn't getting the standing ovation she might have expected. the heated twitter exchange over

her political stance -- next. but first, have you heard about the great debate in the palmetto state? recently republican governor nikki haley mandated state employees answer the phone by saying, "it's a great day in south carolina," but some democratic legislators say hold the phone, things aren't so great. >> this cannot and great day in south carolina when we have homeless veterans walking the street. cannot and great day in south carolina when we wake up one morning and find out we've been sold up the river. >> wendell juilliard and fellow state representative john richard king are pushing a bill to stifle the cheery phone greeting until unemployment is below 5% and every resident has health insurance. have a great day! [ male announcer ] the more you lose, the more you lose, because for every two pounds you lose through diet and exercise, alli can help you lose one more

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this time yesterday i told you about ben breedlove. we watched a vid joe he posted on youtube one night before he died christmas night of a heart condition he was born with 18 years ago. ben told us with note cards he cheated death three times in his young life and those were peaceful experiences. his words, his faith and his strength have moved hundreds of thousands of people and yesterday afternoon the people who knew and loved ben most came together for his funeral. this is austin, texas, and the speaker i want you to hear is ben's sister, ali. >> i know a lot of you are hurting a lot because you miss

ben, but don't let your happiness go away because ben is gone. take that little part of joy that ben shared with you and share it with someone else who hasn't had the chance to experience it yet.

2011 may go down as the safest year on record for fliers. according to the consulting firm, this year there's been one fatality for every 7.1 million

passengers worldwide. that is the best safety level on record. the previous best was in 2004. travel experts say better technology and better crew training has helped make flying less hazardous for all of us. well, now let's check stories making headlines at street level. first to allentown, pennsylvania, where the coroner may give the go ahead to exhume as many as 60 graves. the problem a huge sinkhole. a water main break caused the ground to cave as much as two feet in the graveyard. several headstones atilting. hundreds of the graves date back to the 1800s and many belong to civil war veterans. in los angeles, arson is suspected in at least 19 vehicle fires in the hollywood area. fire officials say six of the blazes spread to nearby structures. and as the l.a. deputy fire chief put it, quote, this is an arsonist at work. investigators are looking for surveillance camera footage or witnesses to the fires. so far no injuries reported.

next, to des moines, iowa. a multimillion dollar story about beating the deadline barely. someone finally claimed that $16.5 million lottery prize yesterday. less than two hours before the lucky ticket was set to expire. the ticket matched all six numbers selected in the hot lotto drawing on december 29th, 2010. no word yet on exactly who the winner or winners are. the ticket was presented by a des moines law firm on behalf of a trust. the new year means a brand new set of election laws on the books in at least five states. in kansas, voters must show a driver's license or valid state i.d. to cast their ballot. voters in rhode island must present a state residency i.d. in tennessee a state photo i.d. is required. in new hampshire, would-be voters who have no state i.d. must mail in a, quoting here, letter of identification verification within 90 days. and in texas, voters must show a

valid state photo i.d. along with a voter registration card. similar laws in other states have been challenged by civil rights groups. now to a few other unique laws that take effect sunday. utah banning happy hour while california and oregon are prohibiting the sale of shark fins. finally, we take street level to the twitter verse. pop star kelly clarkson tweeted her support of gop candidate ron paul, but some of her fans don't like it. kelly said, "i love ron paul," adding in plussed sized tweet, "if he wins the nomination for the republican party in 2012, he's got my vote. too bad he probably won't." fans on twitter point out controversy of inflammatory newsletters that had been dogging him. she had not been aware of that and shot back on twitter saying "man, my eyes have been opened to so much hate tonight.

if y'all ever disagree with something i say please don't feel the need to attack me." the iowa caucuses are four days away. how the race is shaping up for the republican presidential candidates. political guru mark preston joins me live from iowa to break it all down. or should we say not shaking up. who knows. it's a big shakeup, mark. what's the mood over there? are things getting intense as january 3rd approaches? >> reporter: they absolutely are, natalie. the candidates right now, six of the seven candidates running for the presidential nomination are in iowa, crisscrossing the state. they're showing up at any event possible where they could perhaps try to get caucusgoers to support them on tuesday night. a new poll that has just come out in past few hours from nbc news shows we have two leading contenders. let's take a quick look at these numbers, natalie. at the top, mitt romney and ron paul are leading right now as we head into tuesday night. the night of the iowa caucuses. what's really surprising in this poll as well, though, is rick santorum comes in at third

place. look at newt gingrich. all the way down to fifth place. newt gingrich weeks ago was considered one of the leading contenders. right now he's fighting for his political life. so in these closing days right now the candidates are trying to get the vote out, natalie. >> can you sense the change in the air since christmas holiday is over and people are getting a little more focused? >> reporter: they are getting a little more focused. what's interesting about this nbc poll which totally tracks the numbers that the cnn/orc/"time" poll had days ago is that four in ten iowans who are likely to go to the caucuses on tuesday night might change their minds. so that's why we're seeing candidates out there trying to convince these voters to support them on tuesday night. because look, the bottom line is, while we might get a winner out of iowa, and that will be a big boost to them, in many ways it could be the end of the campaigns for some people, particularly michele bachmann who is all the way at the end. >> so she probably won't

survive, then, for new hampshire. >> reporter: it would be very difficult for a michele bachmann to come in last place in iowa where her brand of republican politics plays very, very well then go to new hampshire which tends to have a more economic brand of politics up there. they don't focus on the social issues. that is michele bachmann's biggest selling point. if she were to come in last or have a poor showing, not come in the top four, would be very difficult for her to move on, natalie. >> let's listen to newt gingrich for a moment as everything heats up here, what he had to say. >> my whole emphasis on brain science comes indirectly from dealing -- see, i'm emotional -- from dealing with the real problems of real people in my family. and so it's not a theory, it's, in fact, you know, my mother. >> an emotional moment there for newt gingrich. >> reporter: it was. you know, that just happened hours ago, natalie. it shows how much wear and tear

the candidates have taken. where that quote was about newt gingrich. he was talking about his mother. he was asked about his mother and what makes him think about his mother. on that stage, he teared up and talked about it. just shows you the exhaustion these candidates are facing right now. as they charge into tuesday. hoping that they show well in the iowa caucuses. natalie? >> all right. mark preston for us in iowa. thanks so much, mark. and thank you for watching, everyone. that's it for me today. i'm natalie allen. "newsroom continues now." let's catch you up with everything making news this hour. rapid four. four days to go until iowa republicans hit caucus meetings. mitt romney is still ahead in the polls there. this hour he's getting a boost from fellow governor chris christie of new jersey on the campaign trail with romney's wife, ann. we'll monitor the live campaign events over the next couple of hours. also watch them on cnn.com/live. and massive day of protests turns deadly in syria.

hundreds of thousands of pro-democracy demonstrators jammed the streets of homes and other cities across the country as part of what the opposition called the call to freedom square. anti-government groups say 32 protesters have been killed. witnesses say this video that you're looking at right now shows a man who had his legs blown off being carried by friends in a damascus suburb. the crackdown by president bashar al assad continues despite protests. the monitors in syria to the pledge to end the violence. two doctors affiliated with this maryland abortion clinic are facing murder charges. their medical licenses had already been yanked after an 18-year-old patient suffered serious injuries last year. an indictment released today, investigators describe finding refrigerated fetuses in the clinic which led to the murder

charges. 911 tapes have now been released in the shooting of a marine lieutenant colonel in deerfield beach, florida. survived wars in iraq and afghanistan only to be shot after he chased after two men who robbed him of his fiancee's necklace. >> reporter: for the first time, we're hearing the 911 calls from the day a marine was shot in deerfield beach. >> hey, buddy, sit down. they are coming right now. >> reporter: the caller trying to help carl trenker who was shot three times. >> they hit me in the chest, in the abdomen. >> reporter: his fiancee selling a necklace on craigslist but he was the one who went to meet the buyer last wednesday. with his kids in the truck, trenker met up with a man. >> he picked up, put it in his hand, said, yeah, that feels real and took off running. >> he chased after the pair

until one turned around and fired several shots. two suspects are arrested on charges of attempted murder. right now north carolina police are searching a turkey facility they say is owned by butterball. the largest producer of turkey products in the u.s. the reason, graphic video and allegations of animal abuse. we want to warn you, some of it you may find disturbing. it was taken by an organization called mercy for animals. the video shows farm employees kicking, dragging and throwing turkeys. the hope county sheriffs office says no one has been taken into custody and nothing has been seized from the facility. now, a car drags a florida woman across a parking lot. watch closely at this. a woman is walking. a car comes up next to her. someone inside the car takes her purse. the car takes off. so does she. the woman has bumps and bruises but she's okay. police are looking for the suspects. a huge sinkhole is threatening a dozen homes in

allentown, pennsylvania, and inching closer to a cemetery. it's gotten so close a court ard order gives the coroner a go ahead to remove caskets from 60 graves if need be. the fire chief says the sinkhole is 50 feet long and 30 feet wide. he said a water main break probably caused the ground to give. and take a look at this with me. this is the last stock market day of 2011. looking at the big board there. the dow is down. some 39 points. it's fluctuating standing right now at 12,248. the last market day of 2011 for you there. we've got a lot more to come in the next two hours. watch. two doctors, their licenses already yanked, now charged with murder. what investigators found inside this abortion clinic is shocking. cnn is on the case. then 2 bucks a pop just to pay your own bill? verizon customers are sounding

off over a new convenience fee. we're drilling down on the cell phone bill outrage. you don't usually put your face in your dog's face. >> alaska wolf dogs freed from a callous roadside attraction find a new purpose and some unlikely friends. and the ball that will drop in times square tomorrow night is super wiz bang cool. just how elaborate this high-tech orb really is. the news starts now.

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aspercreme breaks the grip, with maximum-strength medicine and no embarrassing odor. break the grip of pain with aspercreme. s four days now until the nation's first presidential nominating event. the iowa caucuses. we are gearing up. wolf blitzer is gearing up. he is here with us today in atlanta. wolf, always great to see you. >> thank you. >> new poll out. we want to look at those numbers. because one name is screaming out. we are, of course, talking newt gingrich. newt gingrich has not only dropped out of the lead, not only dropped out of the top three, you see there, but has plummeted into fifth place in this nbc marist poll of likely caucusgoers. i don't know whether you saw these pictures. gingrich getting extreme he

emotional today at an event in des moines, talking about his mother and her late life struggle with mental illness, i should say. he got very, very emotional. we're going to see if we can get that clip and play it for our viewers later on. let's carry on with our conversation. the fact he cried in that setting, the fact his numbers are so bad, you know, the less kind would say it's signs of strain shows. what's your take? >> it was certainly a side of newt gingrich, and i've covered him for 20 years, i was not all that familiar with when he broke down and started to cry when talking about his mom who suffered from bipolar disease and other issues. he got really emotional. viewers haven't seen that video, we'll see it. it's understandable. i don't think that's necessarily going to hurt him by any means. unlike some of the women who ran for pat. pat schroeder from colorado. hillary clinton, when she started to cry, that helped her in new hampshire. pat schroeder, that didn't help her.

ed muskey, when he started to cry, that didn't help him. >> my emphasis on brain science comes indirectly from dealing with -- see, i'm emotional -- from dealing with, you know, the real problems of real people in my family. and so it's not a theory. it's, in fact, you know, my mother. >> clearly emotional there. but you say that it fits -- it's okay, it fits into the narrat e narrative. >> it shows a human side of newt gingrich and i think it will resonate to a certain degree. having said that, he's in trouble. he knows that. he'll be the first to acknowledge. our poll this week, the nbc poll that came out today, they really showed he went from early december, he was in the 30s in iowa. now he's in the low teens. mid teens in iowa. that's a significant drop. in my opinion, the main reason is the millions of dollars of negative attack ads that have been bombarding him.

i was in iowa this week. you can't turn on the tv without seeing these anti-newt gingrich ads running from all sorts of sources including super pacs. mostly the super pacs not directly affiliated but clearly supporting mitt romney or rick perry. ron paul doesn't have the super pacs. he's ready to attack him no matter what. that's really hurt newt gingrich big-time. >> his lack of response to the ads, is it about policy, taking a principled stand or lack of money? >> both. he was trying to take the high road which was a blunder. a political blunder. he probably acknowledges that himself right now. you try to stay above the fray and show he wasn't going to criticize his fellow republican candidates. although when he was in "the situation room" when i interviewed him in iowa this week, he broke that rule this week. he went after ron paul, mitt romney even though he was going to take the high road. he realizes he should have fought back. in politics one of the

fundamental rules if you get slapped, you slap right back. if you don't, you're going to suffer. that's the nature. here's my bottom line on all this. it worked, apparently worked in iowa. the attack ads from the super pacs and elsewhere bringing newt gingrich down. you know why they do these negative attack ads? because they work. >> indeed. >> i think in a general election campaign we're all gearing up for, whoever the republican nominee is, whether mitt romney or anyone else versus barack obama in his bid for re-election, these attack ads, the negative campaigning, the negative images we'll see on television will be blistering. this is going to be a really, really tough general election campaign coming up because it works. >> i want to move on and talk about ron paul, because as you're well aware, there was this newsletter from the '80s and '90s that had his name on it and language that some consider racist and inflammatory. he disavowed that.

new questions about his book "freedom under siege." it says a lot on various issues. on viblctims of sexual abuse, h has this to say. why don't they just quit once the so-called harassment starts? he goes on about issue of hispanic, black and jewish caucuses and whether they can exist in the u.s. congress but not a white congress. he calls that absurd. this book, wolf, with its various statements on various issues, you know, some people, again, are talking about this man's character. do you think this is a big deal? >> it will hurt him. i don't think with his real core supporters, he's got a lot of them, in iowa, new hampshire, south carolina, florida. with them it's not going to necessarily hurt him. with moderates, with independents, certainly with democrats, it potentially could hurt him a lot. now, he has said not necessarily with his book, but with those newsletters that were published, ron paul newsletters, he never read those articles, they were published under his name.

he didn't know about them or whatever. he only found out about them much later. he hasn't told us who actually wrote all that stuff for him. so it will hurt him. i'm sure he's not happy that it's all coming out right now. if you're running for president of the united states, everything is going to come out. especially, you know, and he's doing well. he could win in iowa. he could win in iowa. he's close enough to mitt romney in these last polls. still a few more days left to go. what he does have in iowa is an excellent ground game. he's got all these college students who have come in from all over the country to get out the caucusgoers, to help the elderly get to these locations. that's what you need. because this is a different -- it's not just going to vote, you have to sit there for a few hours and do it publicly. he's got a lot of these young students who have come in and they're -- if you read that story in "the new york times" yesterday, they dress up nicely, they're not showing tattoos. they're shaving. >> facial hair. >> they've got ties on. unlike so many of the volunteers

who came in for howard dean back in 2004. apparently they looked like hippies or whatever and turned off a lot of iowans at the time and didn't help howard dean. he came in third in iowa. though he had been doing really well. they learned that lesson. i think this is one of the strengths ron paul has. he's got really devoted supporters out there including a lot of young people who are going to work really hard on tuesday to get ron paul supporters to these caucuses. he'll do well. >> he'll do well. can he win it? >> he might be able to win iowa. i wouldn't be shocked if he wins. mitt romney is looking good. there's still a few days to go. i will say this about ron paul. i've interviewed him many times over the years. all the interviews i've done with him, in my interview, he never showed racism or bigotry or anything like that. these books or news letters going back to the 8'80s are a problem for him. in the recent years he's been a very, very decent guy, at least in the interviews he's done with me. >> we'll have to wait to see how

the ron paul campaign responds to the questions being asked. wolf blitzer, looking forward to seeing the coverage last week. >> remember we saw each other in capetown. south africa. the world cup. >> it was a long time ago. >> seems like a long time ago. >> it was a long time ago. and it was cold which probably affected my memory. wolf, thank you. a reminder, tune in next week for the country's first vote in the presidential race. america's choice 2012. live coverage of the iowa caucuses begins tuesday night january 3rd at 7:00 eastern. wolf and the entire team will be here. all right. moving on. two abortion doctors in maryland are now charged with murder. find out why straight ahead. plus, the hunt is on for this man. police say he stalked a little girl in a minnesota walmart and fondled her. while she today right next to her mother. the whole thing was caught on tape. that story coming up after this very quick break. stay with us.

investigators are looking for a man they say groped a girl at a walmart while her mother and older siblings stood right next to her. it happened monday at this walmart in minnesota just outside of minneapolis. surveillance cameras caught the entire thing. and now police are hoping to identify and catch the suspect by releasing these stills of the man they're looking for. what they're saying to us is he fixated on the girl, stalked her and her family then groped the child. police say the girl is younger than 13. by the time she told her mother who happened, police say the suspect had disappeared. well, we've got a disturbing story developing out of elkton, maryland, to tell you about.

two doctors linked to this abortion clinic both have been charged with murder. those charges contained in an indictment both doctors now in custody. david mattingly is with me now and has been working the story for us. david, how did we go from late-term abortions to a murder case? >> this is very simply put a medical case that has turned criminal. prosecutors i talked to today, they say that the laws were broken when the doctors performed abortions aborting fetuses that could have been viable, that could have lived outside the womb. they were able to make this determination after they went to that clinic you saw in elkton, maryland. they looked at the records. they found the abortions have been performed on fetuses that were 20 to 35 weeks old. also they found in these five cases for one doctor, they found that they believe that this, none of these cases fell into the exceptions provided under maryland law, which means the mother's health was not at stake and there were no genetic problems for the child either.

so that's, with that said, they said they have a case of murder here. we have five counts against one doctor, one count against another doctor. >> this all kicked off when a young woman went to see the individuals and ended up in a hospital. >> a teenage woman went for an abortion at the clinic. there were problems, complications. she ended up being taken, driven to the hospital after her abortion there. her condition was so serious that that hospital decided to send her to another hospital to -- >> i think it was john hopkins. >> john hopkins. that's right. she had to be flown there. it was a serious situation. her uterus had been punctured. she had other internal injuries. the doctors then complained saying, hey, you need to look into this. they complained about the treatment that she got and the fact she was driven by car to the hospital in the first place when it was a very serious injury. >> i want to ask you what's next for the doctors. do we have follow-up on this woman and her condition? >> oh, she was fine.

>> she was fine. >> she underwent surgery, presumably she might be a witness in the case against the two doctors now. >> the doctors, themselves, what's next in. >> one doctor is with authorities. he's in custody in new jersey. another doctor is in custody in utah. we spoke to their attorneys. one did not have any comment. another attorney said that her client does not need to be held without bond. she said the charges are without merit. the very beginning of this criminal case, we're going to hear more about this next week. >> indeed. this is so awful. and to find those fetuses in that -- i can't even imagine for investigators of those searching the premises. david mattingly. thank you so much for working the story for us. all right. stunning new statistics this afternoon. nearly half of all the people in this country are considered poor or low income and it is getting worse. more and more people are dropping out of the middle class. where do they have left to go? that story is next. it's water from the drinking fountain at the mall.

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i want you to consider this. so many americans have lost jobs, homes, incomes, nearly one in every two are now considered to be low income or poor. that's almost half of all americans. cnn's poppy harlow spent a day with two mothers who are sliding down the income ladder. >> it's a fight every day. a fight every day. every day. >> reporter: they're stuck in the middle. >> pick them up here. >> reporter: not living in poverty, but not making it either. many too ashamed to show their face. we met this young mother at a new new jersey food pantry she used to donate to. today she came for help. >> why did i meet you here today? >> five kids.

one bag of chicken left in the house. and there's only four pieces in there. >> reporter: a mother of three and helping take care of two other children. her job, she says, a victim of downsizing. but it wasn't always this way. 2009, for you, life, life was good. >> uh-huh. it was great. you know, three cars, house, kids. >> reporter: a similar story for this mother and her daughter. did you ever think that you would be living with your three kids in a shelter? >> no. i never thought in a million years that i would be at this point. this bad. i was working. the money that i was making -- i was able to pay my bills. until i got laid off from my job. >> reporter: she was bringing in between $40,000 and $50,000 a year. here in bergen county, new jersey, the median household income is more than $77,000 a year. the cost of living is steep. they were evicted in december. >> where do you sleep? >> well, we transition from

church to church. >> do your friends know you're living in a shelter? >> no. i just feel like they might look down on me or, like, feel pity for me. i don't want that. >> reporte >> reporter: nearly one in two americans is now living on the lower end of the income scale. for a family of four, that's less than $45,000 a year. the reception may be over, but it doesn't feel that way. >> we're seeing a tremendous increase and much of that increase has to do with people that never, ever thought that they were going to need to come to an emergency center. >> people that were middle class? >> people that were middle class, people that were donors. >> i think what we're seeing is that the middle class is going away. >> reporter: kate duggan runs a local non-profit and is working to get this family back on their feet. >> families that do have educations and had decent jobs are now being laid off. these are the families that are

stuck in the middle. >> they full through the cracks. >> and there's a lot of them. >> there are a lot of them. that's the frightening part. >> i never thought i'd be here. i don't know why i have to go through this. >> well, poppy harlow joins us now from new york. poppy, just talk to us a little bit more about, you know, what is happening to drive families to this. >> it's a great question, because these two families are just examples of what's happening across america to so many different families. i spoke to dozens of them on the phone and out in field who couldn't share their story on camera. they couldn't go that far. what's happening, it seems, it wages. if they still have a job, they're either making less on their wages have been stagnant for a long time. the cost of living in this country keeps going up. the cost of food, the cost of energy, the cost of rent, if they've lost their home. it keeps getting higher. they just can't keep up. if they've lost their job like the mothers in that story, and

they've run out of unemployment benefits, there is no more help out there for them. they have literally hit the end of their loprope and ended up i situations they never expected they'd be in. >> and poppy, it struck me in watching that piece, that if some who consider themselves mid-class are now becoming poor, what's happening to those who were the poor before? >> and that's the key question. what's happening, the experts tell us that we've talked to and what we're actually seeing happen on the ground is that these formally middle class working americans, if they can get a job, they're getting a job that, say, a working poor person used to have. whether it's a minimum wage job at walmart or somewhere else. they're getting those jobs. what we're told is that's pushing the poor out of employment. also what you're seeing is if they've lost their home, the middle class person, for example, one person i talked to, they're looking to rent a much less expensive, say, apartment, and that used to go to someone

considered part of the working poor. it's pushing the poor out and making the situation for them worse. that's this trickle-down effect of what we're seeing happen. >> yeah, indeed. a difficult time for so many people. poppy, thank you, appreciate the reporting. ever wait until the last minute to pay your cell phone bill then rush online to put it on your credit card? i know i do. if you're a verizon customer, that will cost you $2. verizon is calling it a convenience fee. we'll show you how to avoid it. first -- aside from cell phone bills, what drives you crazy? how about overused words? the annual list of banished words is out. thanks to the folks at michigan's lake superior state university. here are a few they came up with. baby bump. baby bump. what's wrong with just saying someone is expecting or pregnant? i'm going to blame celebrity parents for this one. also on that list, shared sacrifice. as in the phrase you hear from politicians. they use it when they're trying to get buy-in on an idea for the masses. another one on the list, man

cave. why banish the man to neanderthal hall in the house? let's banish that word in the coming year.   

finally, a few more words and phrases that are to be banished from your vernacular in the coming years. occupy. we know where that comes from.

another self-explanatory one is pet parent. you are not the mother or father of your cats and dogs, people. another fun one on the list, thank you in advance. as in thank you in advance lake superior state's next year's list of words. get ready for the latest round of customer unrest. this time it's verizon wireless that's jumping into the fray. you may remember recently, netflix and bank of america. verizon wireless as you probably know provides cell phone service. take a look at this announcement posted on verizon's web page. customers are being told verizon plans to start charging them a $2 convenience fee for paying their bills. the fcc is now jumping in telling cnn, quote, on behalf of american consumers, we're concerned about verizon's actions and are looking into the matter. all right. at this point let's bring in alison kosik. alison, a convenience fee? what is that? >> that's what i was thinking, too. it's funny, it's sort of the

spin that seems to be put on that word. i say it's an inconvenience fee. but what it really means, aisha, is every time you make a one-time payment, whether on the phone or if it's online with your credit card, you're going to be charged $2. if you use a credit or debit card online or on the phone on a month to month basis. verizon is saying the fee is meant to cover costs that are associated with the one time credit card payments. the translation is it's actually passing along the transaction fees that banks and credit card companies are charging them. the companies also saying that it's offering customers numerous free payment options and it's encouraging customers to use these options. >> all right. great point. because you know verizon cu customers are not reacting positively to this. a short time after verizon's announcement, this online petition got posted. here's a bit of what it says. since verizon wireless is already the most expensive

postpaid wireless provider in the united states, we feel this new few is unjust, environmentally unsound and abusive to your customers. that's what the online petition says. alison, here's my question to you. if customers aren't happy, is there a way to get around all this? is there a way? >> there are actually lots of ways, aisha. most customers in reality are not going to be hit with the fee. you can use an electronic check online or over the phone. you can enroll in auto pay. you can use a verizon gift card. you can even go into a verizon store and pay your bill there or just, you know what, do it the old-fashioned way. put the check in the mail, stick the stamp on the envelope and call it a day. once again, verizon is trying to steer customers away from paying with a credit card at the last minute. that's essentially what they're doing. you know what, just the idea of spending an extra 2 bucks for the privilege of paying your bill? yeah, that, of course, sparked a lot of outrage. it also caught the eye of the fcc.

the fcc now says it's looking into this fee. and this fee, by the way, is set to go into effect on january 15th. i think it's interesting how it caught the fcc's eye. >> at other thing that struck me in this was the timing of the announcement. the fact they waited until the so-called dead week between christmas and new year. it seemed a little calculating. >> well, you know, i don't know about the timing. customers are going to be notified of the media's covering this like crazy. one other thing that kind of stuck out at me, if you play your cards right here, customers really won't have to worry about this. the rub here, the real rub here is that probably people who can least afford the fee, meaning people who don't necessarily have bank accounts, they're the ones who are going to get stuck paying it. so, you know, i don't quite see the fairness in that. you know, verizon is offering a lot of ways to get around it. we'll see what happens. then there could be that consumer backlash a lot like we

saw with that bank of america fee, that $5 debit card fee that bank of america retracted after the backlash from consumers. we'll see if the same thing goes the way for verizon wireless. >> i love how you're way less cynical than i am, thinking they're trying to sneak it past the customers when everyone is just, you know, after christmas and all the overeating and not really checking things. interesting perspective. >> surprise. >> i appreciate it, alison, thank you. you don't have to look back far to see examples of companies adding fees and losing customers. alison touched on that. netflix had to back off a rate hike. bank of america dropped $5 debit fees. how is this going to go? consumer unions, they public consumer reports. thanks for joining us. the internet is buzzing with consumer outrage. here's what lauren posted on change.org. "you people have got to stop nickel and diming us to death. charge us a fair fee for using

your service and let that be the end of it. your greed is going to be your downfall." lots of comments like that. how damaging is this for verizon in your view? >> i couldn't agree more with the consumer who posted on change.org. this is emblematic with what's happening with telecom companies, bank, cable companies. they're adding on convenience fees that don't have anything to do with granting us better service. they're really just a fee for the privilege of paying your bill. this is something, you know, it may be a small fee. you may not notice it at first. it does add up. consumers are being nickel and dimed here and there. let me point out one other thing. some people may not be comfortable with auto pay option that you have, you know, in order to avoid the $2 charge. some people understand that they would like to review their bill, they'd like to see the charges on there first then authorize a payment. and they know that if they automate this and if they streamline it so much, they probably won't be taking a look

at their bill. and that's where those small charges can sneak in. >> let me ask you something. i don't know whether you have the answer, but i was intrigued. because obviously off the top of my head, i understand if you pay a bill on the phone, there's a third party that has to handle the transactions. i can understand the company is passing on that cost. how do you work that out for the internet? >> it doesn't make sense. you know, obviously i don't work for verizon. i don't know what their costs are. it seems to me that to claim it costs more to do a one-time fee charge as opposed to a monthly continuous fee charge, i guess i don't really understand where the higher cost is there. >> that's good that we're both on the same page and don't understand that one. >> yeah. >> verizon, a cell phone prov e provid provider, which means long-term contracts which some people hate. let me read to you what nathan posted online. quote, i will leave verizon at the end of my contract if the

charge goes into effect. because of the contracts, do they have to pay and just wait? >> seems like it. as long as you're in a one-year or two-year contract with verizon, you will have to pay this charge if you decide to continue paying, doing one time bank payments or one time phone payments for your bill. >> let's talk about legality as well. because i want to put up this post from michael. this is what he said. he said, "new verizon customer. i wouldn't have signed up if i knew this was in the ranks. it should be against the law to charge someone for paying their bill." we got a statement from an fcc official, quote, on behalf of american consumers we're concerned about verizon, and looking into the matter. could there be a violation with the fcc? >> the fcc is looking into another issue with verizon, that makes me concerned about the practice, the practice of cramming. this is adding mystery charges for services and data that consumers did not purchase and did not want. so verizon is already under

scrutiny from the fcc for that particular area. so i think the fact that they're going ahead with this fee is doubly concerning. >> and what about credit card company regulations? >> i guess we will have to see how that one plays out. >> so we've seen the outcry that erupted when netflix tried to do the rate hike. we saw what happened with bank of america and the monthly debit fee charges they tried to put up there. do you think verizon will go through with this? i mean, how loud could this uproar, this outcry get when you take a look at what people are saying right now? >> the outcry could get very well. in the past, consumers union was definitely involved with the bank of america $5 debit card fee. there was a huge outcry because of that. people were changing their bank accounts. they were pulling their money out of bank of america, switching to other banks. if we see a sufficiently strong consumer outcry, we can hopefully convince verizon this is not the best way to have a

good consumer imagine today. >> january 15th i believe is when this fee is supposed to go into effect. ioana ruso, thanks to much for joining us. >> thank you. how important is iowa? why the huge emphasis placed on this midwestern state with the first in the nation caucuses? mary snowe explains the real takeaway for those of us who don't live there. that's why we created the share the love event. get a great deal on a new subaru and 250 dollars goes to your choice of five charities. ♪ with your help, we can reach 20 million dollars by the end of this, our fourth year. [ female announcer ] get 0 percent apr financing on select models for thirty-six months and we'll donate two-hundred and fifty dollars to your choice of five charities. now through january 3rd. this was the gulf's best tourism season in years. to your choice of five charities. all because so many people wanted to visit us... in louisiana. they came to see us in florida... nice try, they came to hang out with us in alabama...

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if you still have questions about the iowa caucuses, exactly what they are, and why the political world is so excited, stand by. we have a report from mary snow that explains why iowa truly is important. here we go. >> reporter: republican presidential hopefuls make the final sprint in iowa as they crisscross the state, campaigns and supporters flood the airwaves with ads. $8 million worth and counting just this month. so how hutmuch can a win in iow matter? that depends. >> this was the place where america remembered what it means to hope. >> reporter: for barack obama a victory in iowa proved to be a game changer. on the republican side, a different story. >> tonight, i love iowa a whole lot. >> reporter: mike huckabee's upset victory in 2008 with the help of iowa evangelicals failed to gain momentum outside the

state. john mccain was the eventual nominee. when you take a look at who won in iowa compared to the party's eventual nominee, caucusgoers have more traction on the democratic side. a win in 2008 was not only crucial for barack obama but in 2004 for john kerry, and particularly in 1976 for jimmy carter. on the republican side, in recent years, iowa victors george w. bush in 2000 and bob dole in 1996 went on to win their party's nomination, but th their wins in iowa were not as crucial to their campaigns. started in 1972, the caucuses are more about widowing down the field of candidates. winners gain no delegates. political watchers say the iowa contest has become more about the media attention. >> it's essentially in and of itself a meaningless event but has tremendous political impact. because if a candidate does worse than expected, support and especially funding tends to dry up. and if a candidate does better than expected, that support

tends to expand and in particular funding, campaign contributions, tend to increase. >> reporter: last presidential election, about 118,000 republicans took part in the caucuses. and in iowa, there's a stronger focus on social issues than other parts of the country. 60% of gop caucusgoers in 2008 described themselves as evangelical or born again christians. that turnout of republican caucusgoers in 2008 amounts to roughly one-fifth of registered republicans in the state. estimates for what turnout may be this time are all over the map. mary snow, cnn, new york. and this reminder, tune in next week for the country's first vote in the presidential race. america's choice 2012. live coverage of the iowa caucuses begins tuesday night january 3rd at 7:00 p.m. eastern. this just into us here at cnn. pop star katy perry and russell brand are getting a divorce.

we just got a statement from russell brand via his publicist. brand says, sadly katy and i are ending our marriage. i'll always adore her and i know we'll remain friends. once again, this news just coming into us here at cnn. that katy perry and russell brand are getting a divorce. okay. moving on. dropping the ball in times square is a new year's eve tradition. coming up, find out who has the honor of dropping the ball this year. and katie linendahl is standing by in times square to give us the incredible technology behind it. the healing power of touch can be even more powerful. with precise from the makers of tylenol. precise pain relieving cream works quickly to activate sensory receptors. it helps block pain signals fast for relief you can feel precisely where you need it most. precise.

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about a billion people are expected to watch the times square ball drop saturday night. and a pop superstar is going to be pushing the button. do you know who it is? katie linendoll is in new york with the big reveal and high-tech preps. katie, first of all, i'm heading your way in a can couple hours. while you're there, give me a sense, what's the atmosphere like in times square right now? >> reporter: trying to navigate through the crowds already was crazy. i don't know how people do it. people are already camping out. i've been here 20 minutes and already have to use the bathroom. luckily this year there was no snow. i was terrified i was going to get pelted in the face with a snowball. we're clear there, isha. >> thank you for making it clear that getting bathroom breaks is indeed tough. people should know that with

this assignment. who's doing the honors of pushing the button? >> reporter: yeah, this is really interesting. every year there's a special guest that hits a button that has the ball drop at midnight. in the past, notably the guests included muhammad ali, bill and hillary clinton, colin powell. this year according to "the new york post" we're kicking it up a notch. lady gaga ringing in 2012 with rudy giuliani. if you're watching the ball drop and want to sound smart, there's technology that goes on that a lot of people don't realize inside the ball, in itself. understand this is a 104-year-old tradition. the early ball was actually made of iron and wood. it was 700 pounds. check out the 2012 stats of this year's ball. pretty impressive. this year it is made of aluminum. it's 12 feet in diameter. it also weighs about 12,000 pounds. here's where it gets interesting. the old ball had about 100 light bulb in it. there are now 30,000 phillips l.e.d. lights, about 8,000 in

each of four colors that illuminate the ball. this can be controlled digitally, remotedly. it has 16 billion colors and allowed to project video on it with a number of different unique patterns. everybody knows the iconic look with the waterford crystal. every year 3,000 waterford crystals are updated. this year's theme is let there be friendship. a more accurate theme is let's get hopped up and make decisions. i'll leave that to the times square alliance. >> yes, indeed. year after year the crowds turn out and it's always a great atmosphere. i'm really excited about the fact the ball can do these fancy new things. this is something they work on as soon as they've done the ball drop, they look ahead to the next year to see how they can continue to raise the bar, right? >> reporter: yeah. i'm having a hard time hearing you because it's a little crazy here. i want to note while we have time, something that was really interesting, since 2007 what phillips has done, they've worked on the ball for 12 years. and they actually converted all of the light bulb inside there

from hallogen to l.e.d. the ball, itself, 12,000 pounds is 88% more energy efficient. the bulbs last 30 times more than the hall logn bulbs. you can purchase the bulbs on retail. people two to the store, oh my gosh, there's an l.e.d. bulb, it's $15. understand the bulb is going to last 20 to 20 years as opposed to a 60 cent light bulb that lasts months. >> i'm glad i stayed with you as you made that point. that's very interesting. katie linden dahl. thank you so much. appreciate it. happy new year in advance. >> reporter: thank you, happy new year. we're going to check in on the weather for new year's eve not only in new york but across the country. chad myers is the man stand by with ult information. for some reason people like to shoot off their guns on new

year's eve. we're digging deeper on this dangerous celebratory act next. hello, how can i deliver world-class service for you today ? we gave people right off the street a script and had them read it. no, sorry, i can't help you with that. i'm not authorized to access that transaction. that's not in our policy. i will transfer you now. my supervisor is currently not available. would you like to hold ? that department is currently closed. have i helped you with everything you needed ? if your bank doesn't give you knowledgeable customer service 24/7, you need an ally. ally bank. no nonsense. just people sense.

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time now for the help desk. we get answers to your financial

questions. joining me this hour, gary shatsky, financial planner and president of objectiveadvice.com. gale cunningham with the national foundation for credit counseling. thank you for being here. first question to you, gary, from michael in florida. michael writes, my mortgage company requires me to have property insurance and flood insurance which costs $3, 600. i have 90 k, $90,000 left on the mortgage and $200,000 in investments. should i cash out my investments and pay off the mortgage to reduce or eliminate the insurance? >> if you borrow money, people want to make sure the property will be there. i understand that concern. at the end of the day you need insurance. unless you somehow found you're not in a flood zone, then there would be a value to that. the real analysis would be, what's the interest rate on the underlying loan? do you have money that's sitting around? if you paid it off, very few people would be well advised to get rid of their homeowners insurance or flood insurance because they're protecting the value of your home. even if they're